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Pune ‘drug party’ case: Ex-minister’s son-in-law among 5 accused sent to judicial custody
Pune court on Thursday remanded five accused, including former Maharashtra minister Eknath Khadse’s son-in-law Pranjal Khewalkar, to 14-day judicial custody in ‘drug party’ case
Pune: A court in Pune on Thursday remanded five accused, including former Maharashtra minister Eknath Khadse’s son-in-law Pranjal Khewalkar, to 14-day judicial custody in the drug party case. Their two women accomplices are currently in judicial custody.
All the five accused were produced before Additional Sessions Judge JG Dorle. The prosecution sought the extension of the police custody of the accused, and told the court that the investigators have found some objectionable chats and videos in their phones which need to be probed.
The Pune police’s crime branch raided the “drug party” at a studio apartment in Kharadi area in the wee hours of Sunday, leading to the arrest of Khewalkar and six others, including Sameer Sayyad, Nikhil Poptani, Sachin Bhombe, Shripad Yadav, Prachi Sharma, and Isha Singh. Police claimed to have seized cocaine, marijuana, hookah set-ups and bottles of liquor.
In the remand application submitted to the court, inspector Vijay Kumbhar outlined findings from cyber forensic reports that allegedly link the accused to drug use, party coordination, and possession of objectionable digital content.
According to Kumbhar, Khewalkar’s mobile phone and laptop revealed obscene videos, some allegedly showing inappropriate conduct with women during and after parties.
The police also pointed out a possible drug supply link involving a man named Rahul known to Sameer Sayyed, who allegedly served hookah at the events. His number was traced to Mohammad Najmul Islam, a resident of Borivali, Mumbai.
The prosecution said that they want to trace the source of the contraband. The defence counsels representing the accused objected to the police probe and said the two women from whose purses the drugs were recovered have already been remanded in judicial remand.
“We shall be filing an application for regular bail on behalf of the accused at the earliest,” said advocates Abid Mulani, Seoul Shah and Yash Mehta.
